A floral print is the perfect way to evoke the spirit of summer and this dress is a perfect look for date night.  I've mentioned before that I'm quite particular in selecting prints.  And this is probably the boldest print I have in my closet.  And that's why I chose to keep the accessories simple:  very little jewelry (a watch, bracelet and a gold ring or tungsten rings) and a simple sandal, but a bright color pulled from the print.  

I haven't worn this dress in forever.  And honestly, it was because I was very conscious of my middle.  There's no concealing in this dress and wearing a wide belt was out of the question with this busy print.  But these days, I've been feeling a lot better about myself.  I'm revisiting a lot of things in my closet that previously didn't fit or didn't "fit right".

Often, I read comments advising women to rid themselves of clothing that no longer fits.  Well... maybe so.  But if you have it in your head and your heart to make changes for the better, then shut down those naysayers, keep your clothes in your closet and put in the work!  And before you know it, you'll be where you want to be.  Maybe those people give out advice based on their on personal resolve.  They don't know you or what you're willing to personally accomplish!

The dress is (OOP) McCall's 6348.

The cutout trend is pretty big this season.  There are slivers of skin peeking out in every direction (i.e. back, waist, midriff, chest and probably the easiest -- the shoulders).  

For my way of embracing this trend, I decided to go with McCall's 6348, view A.  Which seemed an easy enough way, because this dress is no more than a strapless dress with a shoulder attachment... in my opinion.   

I used this great jersey fabric from Mood.com that's medium weight yet drapey and has a pretty decent recovery.  For a woman that used to fear color and floral prints, I'll say that I stepped WAAAAAYYYYY outside of my comfort zone with this.  A "daring" design and an explosion of color!

McCall's 6348 is another one of those awesome patterns that has the cup sizes.  I cut the size 14 D at the shoulders and graded to a size 16 from the waist down.  I probably could've gone with a full 14, but I didn't want the dress to be scandalously clingy.  And I added three inches to the length.  Being that the dress already had a good deal of exposed skin on the top, I didn't want it to be a mini.  Got to know when to say "when".

To prevent any gaping, I stabilized the hems at the cutout.  And I also tacked the front yoke to the bodice at the points where they meet.  I wasn't convinced that it would stay in place without me doing so.

The front of the dress has horizontal dart and the back has a yoke and princess seams. 

For an extra touch of pizzazz, I added an exposed zipper using this tutorial at Threads magazine.

And FYI:  this dress is "bra-friendly".  But I found that a demi-style bra worked best for me.  A regular cut bra peeked out.